


Colours

by Soaring_Ren (Robin_Knight)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Affairs, Break Up, Cheating, Complete, Heartbreak, M/M, One-Shot, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:50:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8595049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robin_Knight/pseuds/Soaring_Ren
Summary: Keith's biggest mistake letting Lance think he loved him. He never wanted to ruin their friendship.* * * One-Shot. Complete. No continuations.





	

# Colours

_Everything is blue._

_His pills, his hands, his jeans._

Keith clawed his fingers along brown skin. There was a heavy film of sweat over them both, while Lance panted with exertion against neck and jawbone, and so every breath came warm and moist against him. The scent of sex was heavy in the air. They lost count of time soon after minutes became hours, while the sheets became completely entangled around them like an extension of themselves, and Keith could only stare upward at the ceiling in disinterest.

It was good, just like it was always good, but it wasn’t _right_. The brown hair kept tickling against his nose, while Lance kept muttering how good it all felt in that voice just a little too high for comfort, and the pile of clothing – topped with wrinkled jeans – sat in his peripheral vision just enough to provide a nuisance. He never saw those blue eyes, as Lance would always bury his head out of the way and close his eyes when he came, and the whole thing felt so impersonal, even if it was also the most intimate thing he experienced.

_And now I’m covered in the colours pull apart at the seams._

Lance moved in and out of him in an almost perfect rhythm. Keith was prepared well, loosened by the acts that came before, and yet it was purely physical in the way that a massage was purely physical, without the emotional connection that made it go from ‘good’ to ‘supreme’. He felt sore from the constant friction, while his thighs ached with the strain of wrapping themselves around that somewhat svelte waist, and he could hear the beating of his heart loud in his ears, while his guilt began to eat away at him, so nothing but shame was left.

_You were a vision in the morning when the light came through._

_I know I’ve only felt religion when I’ve lied with you._

There were a few grunt and cries from Lance, but the sounds only reminded Keith of just who was inside of him, and suddenly the act of ‘love-making’ felt all too real. Lance was always so quiet during sex. The others always teased that Lance was just as vocal during sex as he was through normal interactions, often kept awake with the screams and moans and various chants of ‘oh God’, but little did that know it was Keith who was the screamer and the crier.

It was instinct, but it also served the purpose of drowning of those noises made by Lance, especially when each and every one felt like a dagger to the heart. The worst pain was the following mornings, when he would have to sit opposite Shiro and see the older man avoid his eyes, and worse than the affair was the knowledge that Lance was so oblivious to their relationship, while Shiro was forced to share Keith with another man. Today, Keith felt his throat seize and the vocal cries fall to a muffled mumble, unable to enjoy the act itself.

There was a slapping noise between every grunt that Lance made, as the lubrication made that slick and wet sound that always grated on Keith, and large testicles constantly struck at his bare buttocks. Lance was growing erratic. He was getting close. Those soft hands were leaving bruises on Keith’s hips, as Lance thrust harder and harder and arched his back, until he gave a choked sound and froze in place. He came inside Keith.

“I – I love you,” whispered Lance.

Lance smiled, as he fell onto the bed beside him. The way he slid out was a touch painful, while the way his come felt inside was uncomfortable and scorching hot, and Keith felt an increasing sense of nausea at having to feign pretending a return to his quarters with the thick liquid being held in place inside him. He would clean himself out in Shiro’s shower, while the older man would give him the ‘look’ that was equal parts jealousy and disappointment, and then they would make love in a way that made him forget everything.

He didn’t want to explain to Lance that this was just ‘fucking’, that what started off as a one-night stand had turned into an accidental relationship, or even that the man he never thought he could have – the man he waited _over a year_ to love – was finally interested in him, finally willing to have a relationship, and finally able to reciprocate a once unrequited love. He didn’t want to have to break his friend’s heart, not after he let it go on for too long.

“You’re not going to say it back?” Lance teased. “Rude much!”

Lance rolled onto his side, as he draped an arm over Keith. It was a pretty unusual hold; he would always let his upper arm rest on Keith’s stomach, but his forearm would come up so that he could let his hand rest over the fast-racing heart, and – as he simply felt Keith’s heart beat against his hand – he would be lulled into a light sleep. He claimed to find it a reassurance, because it meant his lover was alive and beside him, but every time it just made Keith tense up and want to run, because it meant Lance loved him more and more.

The sheets were still entangled around their legs, while Lance placed light kisses upon his shoulder, and it wouldn’t be long until they parted ways. Lance would always tease that it was okay, as he didn’t want Keith to see him in his facial-mask and eye-cover, but Keith would always see how the younger man’s eyes watered each time he left. There was no way that this could end well, but to let it drag on any longer was an insult to both Shiro and Lance.

“So – er – I was thinking you could stay the night?”

Lance waggled his eyebrows, as he gave a flirtatious smile. It was a huge deal that Lance would even want someone else to see his ‘evening routine’, let alone to let someone see him at his most vulnerable state when he slept, and clearly – despite all their initial arguments and rivalry – he had grown to see Keith as an equal. It was more than Keith could bear. He pulled away from Lance and climbed out of bed, as he grabbed one of the sheets and wrapped it around his waist for modesty, despite the fact Lance sprawled out totally naked.

“Okay, well, that’s cool, too,” muttered Lance.

“I can’t stay the night here,” said Keith.

“Like I said: that’s cool.”

There was little noise to distract from the awkward situation. Keith heard every rustle of the sheets, as Lance reached over to the bedside table for some tissues, and – as he wiped himself down – he made obvious sighs that were designed for some attention. It was difficult to ignore, as Keith knew how unfair the situation was upon Lance, and it took all his self-control to pull on his clothing and cover himself up. Keith gnawed at his lip in a nervous manner.

“Hey, so about tomorrow?” Lance asked. “I was thinking we could –”

“I’m sorry, Lance, but this is over. We need to break up.”

The silence was deafening to him. Lance dropped the tissue in his hand onto the bed, before he sat up and paled considerably, and – as his blue eyes widened – those full lips of his parted into a smile that shook and moved with considerable emotion. He looked shocked, so that he couldn’t control his hands, and they trembled so much that it was clear how he was on the verge of tears, fighting back emotion that he was able to express with such ease.

Lance apparently had no care for his naked condition, which only made him seem all the more vulnerable. There was a love-bite on his thigh and left buttock, while claw marks ran down his back like red trails, and there were visible bruises upon his hips that were virtually in the shape of a handprint. Keith turned his back upon him, unable to look him in the eye for the shame he felt about how things came so far, and he instead began to smooth out his hair in the mirror, desperate to at least look fresh for Shiro when he returned to him.

There were small and choked hiccups from Lance, who looked back and forth with rapid movements of his eyes, and – as Keith made his way to the door – he jumped up onto his feet and ran to stop Keith from leaving without any word. It was impossible to look at him. Keith closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, as that warm hand encircled his grip upon the door handle and stopped his departure. He supposed he owed Lance some explanation.

“You’re joking, right?” Lance asked in a weak voice.

Keith opened his eyes and looked to Lance. It would have been funny at any other time, to see him naked with member dangling between his legs with a strange momentum, but there were tears in his eyes ready to fall and stain his cheeks, so that Keith could feel nothing except a devastating sense of shame. There were goosebumps over Lance’s skin; he must have been cold, enough that it was tempting to pull a blanket over his shoulders and spare him the embarrassment, but Keith simply slumped his shoulders and looked to the floor.

_You were red, and you liked me because I was blue._

_But you touched me, and suddenly I was a lilac sky._

_Then you decided purple just wasn’t for you._

Lance let his hand fall away, before he took a step back. It was nice to have an ounce of space, especially when Keith so desperately needed to think, and so he turned and fell back against the door, where he let his hands trace the cold metal. It grounded him. The sensation of the cold reminded him that this was real, that he was here with Lance, and so he looked into those blue eyes and saw the first tear fall over his cheek. It ran down onto his lips, which Lance licked away out of instinct, and Keith cursed himself silently for his actions.

“There’s someone else,” said Keith.

“Who? How long?”

“I guess about a few weeks after we first hooked up,” admitted Keith. “I thought what we had was a one-night stand, Lance. I was in love with someone else, but I thought I didn’t stand a chance and wanted to move on. I just didn’t think you would assume it more than what it was, and then you got more and more invested in us, and I just didn’t have the heart to say –”

“You didn’t want to admit to fucking someone else?” Lance shook his head with a broken laugh. “Okay, so who is it? It can’t be Pidge or Allura, as I know you’re gay! So tell me who the hell you’ve been seeing! Tell me who you’ve been cheating on me with!”

“You’re upset. It’s understandable, Lance, but –”

“I have a right to know, Keith!”

The explosion of emotion was difficult to endure. It made Keith uncomfortable to see the devastation change into outright rage, as those pale cheeks turned red and those tears bled into his mouth in an undignified manner. Those hands were now clenched into tight fists, until knuckles turned white with the strain, and Keith wondered whether this would turn into something physical, like all those near-fights when their friendship was still strained and new, and he realised – for the first time – this may be the end of that same friendship.

“It’s Shiro,” whispered Keith.

Lance gave a soft laugh. It was gentle at first, until it turned into something dark, and then became a scream of frustration as fist met wall. Keith flinched and jumped back. The look in Lance’s eyes was of sheer venom, while his knuckles were bloody from the force of the impact, and – as his hand fell away – he began to weep in earnest. He slid down onto his knees and brought his hands to his face, as he cried so loud and long that Keith almost wished that he let their relationship carry on just to protect him. It felt wrong.

It was heart breaking to look upon, especially as he could see the raw emotion on his ex-boyfriend’s face, and he wanted – more than anything – to pull the younger man into a hug and hold him until he stopped those years. Lance looked so broken and fragile; he was sat naked on the floor, with the blood from his hand now over his cheek, and his eyes were bloodshot and puffy from his exertions. Keith reached out a hand, but then paused midair.

“I’m so sorry, Lance,” he said.

Keith shook his head and opened the door. He hadn’t the strength to so much as close it after him, so that the sound of the cries echoed along the corridor as he ran with full speed, and – as he threw his hands over his ears to block the sound – he saw Pidge opening her bedroom door with a sleepy rub of her eyes. Keith didn’t stop to explain the situation to her, just as he didn’t stop to even gather his bearings, and he only stopped when he was outside Shiro’s door. He struck over and over with his open palms, until Shiro opened up.

The older man was half-dressed, clad only in black trousers and matching ankle-boots, and those scars that marked his skin were so familiar . . . Keith remembered mapping every one with his tongue, memorising each crease of his skin, and crying with Shiro when he heard the traumatic stories behind their causes . . . he finally felt at home before him. Keith threw himself at his lover and wrapped his arms tight around an exhausted body.

Shiro still looked slightly out of things; he didn’t return the embrace immediately, as he took a stumbled step back and looked down to the body in his arms, but soon he gave a pained sigh and held impossibly tight onto Keith. It was enough to make Keith cry. They weren’t the choked and inconsolable tears of Lance, but they were the tears of a man so deeply ashamed and remorseful that he doubted he would ever look in a mirror again. Shiro swept him inside the room and locked the door behind them, as he guided Keith to the bed.

_Everything is grey._

_His eyes, his smoke, his dreams._

_And now he’s so devoid of colour._

_He don’t know what it means_.

It wasn’t the break-up that Keith mourned, but the loss of a friend. He felt finally at home with Shiro, as the white-haired man gently pulled off his clothing, before he lowered him into bed with zero expectation of anything sexual that evening. The sheets were cool and free from semen and sweat, while the bed itself was firm and supporting, unlike the soft and uncomfortable mess that was Lance’s bed, and Shiro smiled such a reassuring smile . . .

Shiro quickly stripped in turn, before he climbed in beside Keith. Those strong arms pulled Keith against an equally strong chest, and the solid muscles allowed him to lose all tension from his body, as he relished in the touch so much more than the soft and slim body of Lance who could never compete physically with Shiro. He dreaded how they would form Voltron after a breach of trust like this, while he knew he would never be able to look Lance in the eye again, and he had been Lance’s first, too . . . Lance had loved him.

“He’ll never forgive me, Shiro,” said Keith. “I’ve lost him.”

“He was your friend before all else. Just give him time.”

“Time is what got us into this mess, wasn’t it?”

Shiro said nothing as Keith cried.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one-shot and is complete. 
> 
> NO continuations by any other persons are connected to this work. 
> 
> If anyone does seek to 'continue' this work, please make it your own original work. I find it insulting when people often link me - or leave in comments - their version of an ending . . . it feels insulting, as you're saying "this isn't good enough and I can do better". Plus, people want to hear your voice as a writer, and not an imitation of mine. I am thrilled if this work inspires others, whose works I would love to read and whom I would fully support, but I do _not_ approve of 'extra chapters' or 'new endings', because they are completely contrary to my vision and insult me as the author. If you are inspired, use that inspiration to write something original and your own, but do not rewrite my ending for me. 
> 
> Please do not slap on something 'extra' with nothing original and change my intent. 
> 
> * * * 
> 
> If this continues, I will simply just remove this work from the archive.


End file.
